Telephony/IVR Walkthrough

Overview

Telephony, or IVR, is how caregivers can call in to Ankota in order to clock in or out. This process is normally done from the client's registered home phone, although on occasion a FOB (fixed object device) may be used so that a different phone can be used. See below for a clear walkthrough of a telephony clock-in, both in a standard clock-in and a FOB clock-in. Alternately, skip straight to the bottom to download a copy of the walkthrough or watch the video! Note: IVR will not work correctly if caregiver is calling from a phone app such as TextNow.

Telephony Clock-in

To clock in with telephony,

• Arrive at the client’s residence 
• Report arrival via telephony from the client’s phone number (example call below)
  • Please enter your user ID followed by # sign.
  • Please enter your PIN followed by # sign (if you have one).
  • To select X am arrival, press 1. Press 99 to hear your schedule for tomorrow.
  • Arrival time is X pm. You should complete your visit at X pm.
  • Your arrival has been reported. Thank you.
• Complete your visit
• Report departure, including care plan items, via telephony from the client’s phone number (example call below)
  1. Please enter your user ID followed by # sign.
  2. Please enter your PIN followed by # sign.
  3. To select departure, press 1. Press 99 to hear your schedule for tomorrow. 
  4. Departure time is X pm. 
  5. Please report the value or status of the following items: 
  6. [Item] is complete, press 1; if not needed today, press 2; if client refused, press 3 
     • Repeat as needed
  7. If care plan item status are acceptable, press 1; to re-enter care plan item status, press 2.
  8. Are there any concerns you’d like to share with the office about the patient’s condition? Press 1 for yes or 2 for no. 
  9. Your departure has been successfully reported. Thank you.
• Depart the client visit location (do not leave until departure is reported)

Telephony Clock-in with FOB

 First, let's define a FOB. 

To clock in with telephony and a FOB,

• Arrive at the client’s residence 
• Click the FOB and write down the arrival code
  1. If you are able, call now to report the arrival and use the arrival code; if not, call later
• Complete your visit
• Click the FOB again and write down the departure code (keep both codes!)
  1. If you are able, call now to report departure and use the departure code; if not, call later
• Report arrival as you are able using the FOB code, calling the telephony line (example call below)
  1. Please enter your user ID followed by # sign.
  2. Please enter your PIN followed by # sign (if you have one).
  3. Please select action from the following list:
     • To select Name arrival, press 1
  4. Please enter the code generated by the FOB device followed by # sign. (Enter the arrival code)
  5. Arrival time is X pm. You should complete your visit at X pm.
  6. Your arrival has been reported. Thank you.
• Report departure as you are able using the FOB code, calling the telephony line (example call below)
  • Please enter your user ID followed by # sign.
  • Please enter your PIN followed by # sign.
  • Please select action from the following list:
    • To select Name departure, press 1 
  • Please enter the code generated by the token device followed by # sign. (Enter the departure code.)
  • Departure time is X pm. 
  • Please report the value or status of the following items: 
  • [Item] is complete, press 1; if not needed today, press 2; if client refused, press 3.
    • Repeat as needed
  • If care plan item status are acceptable, press 1; to re-enter care plan item status, press 2.
  • Are there any concerns you’d like to share with the office about the patient’s condition? Press 1 for yes or 2 for no. 
  • Your departure has been successfully reported. Thank you.

Remember, always report arrival with the arrival code first, and the departure call with the departure code second. If you report codes out of order, they will not work!

Telephony Clock Out with Voice Signature

To clock out with telephony,

• From the client’s residence
• Complete your visit 
• Report departure via telephony from the client’s phone number (example call below) 
• Report departure, including care plan items, via telephony from the client’s phone number (example call below)
  1. Please enter your user ID followed by # sign.
  2. Please enter your PIN followed by # sign.
  3. To select departure, press 1. Press 99 to hear your schedule for tomorrow. 
  4. Departure time is X pm. 
  5. Please report the value or status of the following items: 
  6. [Item] is complete, press 1; if not needed today, press 2; if client refused, press 3 
     • Repeat as needed
  7. If care plan item status are acceptable, press 1; to re-enter care plan item status, press 2.
  8. Are there any concerns you’d like to share with the office about the patient’s condition? Press 1 for yes or 2 for no. 
  9. Please ask client to say that the visit is complete
  10. Press 2 if client is available; If client is not available press 1
  11. Please confirm that you received your service today, Press 1 for yes or Press 2 for no
  12. Please confirm time of visit Press 1 to confirm or Press 2 if don't agree with the times
  13. Please have the client say their name and date
  14. Please confirm your name and date
      
  15. Your departure has been successfully reported. Thank you.
• Depart the client visit location (do not leave until departure is reported)

Note: In some states, it is acceptable to have no voice signature so as long as the caregiver is calling from the client's phone. 

Care Codes

In some states, caregivers are not assigned care plan items for Respite but instead report tasks on an as-needed basis. To avoid having to listen to the entire list of care plan items, caregivers for these agencies are given the option to enter care plan task codes followed by the pound sign or hash tag (#), both in telephony and in the mobile app. These care plan task codes will be provided to the agencies as needed.

Telephony Guide

You may also wish to download the appropriate telephony guide below for your reference. 

Telephony Guide.pdf

Telephony Guide with FOB.pdf

Troubleshooting

Most of the time, reaching out to your organization (whether to a supervisor or office contact) will quickly resolve any issues you may have. For more specific directions, see below.

• You reached a busy signal. Ankota cannot give a busy signal as we use bandwidth instead of phone lines, so the issue is with the local phone system. Record the precise time and phone number and report it to your organization.
• You can't clock in. Try again. If it still does not work, notify your organization.
• You forgot the telephony/call-in number. Your organization can provide you with this information.
• You forgot your User ID or my PIN. Your organization can provide you with this information. 
• The system hangs up in the middle of my call. If the prompts just stop in the middle of a call, hang up and call back to complete the visit.  Also, please report this to your organization along with the exact time you were calling in and the number you called from.
• The system won’t allow clock-in, only clock-out. You clocked in, but never clocked out of the previous visit so the system thinks you are calling to end the other, open visit. Either clock out first before attempting to clock in, or call your regular supervisor or office contact to request they close out your previous visit at the appropriate time. Be aware they will most likely ask for supporting documentation for the previous visit's times.
• The system won’t allow clock-ins for any visits. Reach out to your organization for assistance.
• The system didn’t ask about the appropriate tasks. The client's care plan may be wrong or out of date. Reach out to your organization for assistance. 
• The system asked a strange question I have never heard it ask before. The client's care plan may be wrong or out of date. Reach out to your organization for assistance. 
• The system says, "Something went wrong". You are not calling from an appropriate number and/or is calling from a "fake caller ID". This can be from a Spoof app or telemarketing blocker. To fix this, call from the correct phone on the client's profile and/or remove blocker from phone.

Videos

Basic Telephony

Allowing Location